Major League Baseball’s 2023 season begins Thursday. This is the first time since 2019 that we’ve come from a ‘normal’ spring training – remember the owners locked out players last off-season and pushed back opening day – so there’s a lot of positive vibes to be felt.
Regarding the sentiment of individual players, it’s always fun to predict award winners. Not only is it a fun discussion for all of us, but there is a large market in the gambling community for reward futures. We’ll throw some of the odds after our picks for those interested, but let’s review the individual prize picks from the members of the CBS Sports MLB staff first.
American League
Obviously, Ohtani picks are popping out all over the board. Most of us had similar reasons: He already won the MVP when the Angels weren’t in the playoffs, and if the Angels survive their dry spell this year, it will certainly be with a full year of two-way Ohtani. If that’s the case, he’s a very obvious choice. It seems most of us also loved what we see in this brief look at the Orioles’ Henderson.
Bundesliga
We really like the Padres, huh? It’s rare that we see a team get two different MVP picks, and it has to be argued that Tatis could win this one against Soto and Machado as well. The rookie of the year could also be a really fun one with some top-flight studs going up against him.
betting odds
(All odds via Caesars Sportsbook on March 27th)
AL MVP
- Shhei Ohtani: +200
- Aaron Richter: +400
- Mike Trout: +600
- Julio Rodríguez: +800
- Jordan Alvarez: +1200
NL MVP
- Juan Soto: +450
- Mookie Betts: +800
- Ronald Acuna Jr.: +900
- Manny Machado: +950
- Nolan Arenado: +1000
AL Cy Young
- Jacob de Grom: +500
- Gerrit Cole: +600
- Dylan stops: +900
- Carlos Rodon: +900
- Alex Manoah: +900
NL Cy Young
- Justin Verlander: +500
- Corbin Burnes: +500
- Sandy Alcantara: +550
- Max Scherzer: +700
- Spencer Strider: +800
AL Rookie of the Year
- Gunnar Henderson: +300
- Anthony Volpe: +450
- Masataka Yoshida: +700
- Grayson Rodriguez: +800
- Josh Young: +1200
NL Rookie of the Year
- Jordan Walker: +250
- Corbin Caroll: +500
- Kodai Senga: +1000
- Miguel Vargas: +1000
- Ezequiel Tovar: +1200